Driver named suspect in Brebes train crash

Driver named suspect in Brebes train crash

The Jakarta Post, Brebes

The driver of the Empu Jaya train that collided with another
train in Brebes, Central Java, killing at least 30 people on
Tuesday, has been labeled a "suspect", police said Wednesday.

Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng said
driver Muhamad To'at, who is receiving treatment for his injuries
at the Tanjung General Hospital in Brebes, was negligent and
caused the death of others.

Muhamad had reportedly ignored signals and diverted his train
-- bound for Yogyakarta from Jakarta -- onto the track where the
Jakarta to Surabaya-bound Gaya Baru Malam was stopped at the
Ketanggungan station in Brebes.

Tegal Police chief Sr. Comr. Rismawan told The Jakarta Post
separately on Wednesday that Muhamad was accused of violating
Article 359 of the Indonesian Criminal Code which carried a
maximum five year jail term for negligence.

Erwin also added that 20 other railway employees were being
questioned as investigations into the tragic head-on collision
continued.

Earlier in the day the head of state-owned railway company PT
KAI in Cirebon, Abdul Madjid, said an internal investigation was
also underway. "We may need three days to question them as most
of them are still in very serious shock."

Meanwhile, Erwin, and PT KAI officials confirmed on Wednesday
that the driver of the Gaya BAru Malam train, Sutrisno, was still
alive. He had reportedly been killed in the accident.

Sutrisno was quoted by his boss Djusman Manurung, the head of
PT KAI in Purwokerto, as saying that he had been terribly shocked
and had fled the accident scene to report the smash directly to
Djusman in Purwokerto.

Sutrisno, one of the key witnesses in the accident, arrived at
the Purwokerto railway station at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday. He was
taken to Cirebon early Wednesday before police brought him to
Semarang, Erwin confirmed.

"We will use psychologists to question all the witnesses," he
said.

Abdul Madjid told reporters on Wednesday morning that the
number of fatalities was 30, not 54 as he had announced on
Tuesday.

"We apologize for the inaccurate data. Engineer (driver)
Sutrisno was also recorded dead yesterday. There was chaos
yesterday. Records on the number of deaths were made in a very
rushed situation and made by several persons at several places.
Now we are handling the records here. The number of deaths is
30," he reiterated.

Meanwhile, the Central Java chapter of the National Awakening
Party (PKB) urged Minister of Transportations Agum Gumelar,
Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi and the
management of PT KAI step down following the series of train
accidents this year.

With 30 people killed in the Brebes' train crash, the total
number of fatalities in 13 train accidents so far this year
stands at 145.

Meanwhile PKB Central Java chapter chairman HM Muzammil told
The Jakarta Post that it would facilitate class action against
the government in response to the fatal train accidents.

"The Central Java chapter of PKB is ready to help people
launch their class action over the repeated fatal accidents. We
are ready to accommodate public complaints about train
accidents," he said from Semarang on Wednesday.

"Our party has instructed its legal aid and human rights aid
body to thoroughly study the case, and in the near future the
party will appoint an independent lawyer to help the relatives of
the victims or those affected by the train accidents," he said.